Project Perils
by dead2self
Summary: When Danny and Dash are paired together for an English project, one thing follows another and everything goes downhill. NOT slash preUltimateEnemy
1. Chapter 1

Obligatory A/N: Well, here's my first fanfic ever... kinda ironic that its Danny Phantom XD;; I'd have assumed it would be an anime one. However, there's fanfics for EVERYTHING in anime, so I never felt compelled to write one. Then I started watching this, and it just sparked my imagination. I looked for fanfics, but there just weren't enough. Since I've read most of the ones worth reading (imo) already, I thought I'd write one. So far, I've discoved a few things about writing fanfics… First, I am absolutely terrible at writing them, especially if I haven't seen the actual show recently. Second, for some reason I don't write in the same style as I do when writing my own fiction… strange. Third, I hate writing it compared to fiction. I'd much rather be reading fanfiction than writing it, but whatever. sigh I probably won't be updating very fast though.. I have a life and I'm a slow writer already. Doubtful that anyone will read this, but if you do, I'd love constructive critisism. If you think someone is out of character, feel free to show me and suggest how to fix it. Considering I agree and you state it in a polite manner, I'll probably change it. Also, any ideas on my writing style would also be appreciated. So, yeah, r/r I don't care if you flame, because this isn't like... my pride and joy or anything. I can take some idiot's heat over it. Anyhow... Onward!

I'm not gonna be putting in a disclaimer either, because as I've uploaded this story to FANFICTION . net I think its rather clear it is fanfiction and not a product of my own imagination.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The bell rang across Amity Park's Casper High just as Danny Fenton slid into his first period class. Panting hard, Danny ignored the usual giggles and took his seat.

"Nice to see you actually on time, Mr. Fenton," Lancer drawled as he straightened his papers. "I'll expect you and your friends will celebrate this monumental occasion." When Sam leaned over from her seat to say something to Danny, he added, "_After_ class."

Sam sat back in her seat and slouched in bitter annoyance. Once Lancer had launched into his lesson for the day, she perked up and leaned next to Danny again. "Did you get him?"

"Yeah," Danny whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "You know the Box Ghost. He's a pushover."

Tucker leaned into their conversation too. "How many 'bewares' did he get out before you shoved him in the thermos?" he asked in good humor.

"Only three this time," Danny chuckled, earning the attention of the teacher.

"Care to tell us what's so funny, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer asked in a bored tone.

The group of three jumped guiltily and returned their attention back to the front of the room. "Nothing, Mr. Lancer," Danny replied quickly. Mr. Lancer went on in his speech, but the more Danny tried to concentrate on the lecture, the less he could. Soon his eyes were drooping, and the next thing he knew a ruler was snapping down on his desk.

"Wha-!" Danny shouted in surprise, shooting straight up in his seat and ready for anything. But instead of a fearsome ghost looming over him he saw a furious teacher. Snickers echoed throughout the room while Sam and Tucker were casting him looks of sympathy.

"If you're going to sleep at school so often, perhaps it would be better if you didn't come at all," the teacher drawled sarcastically. "Do you even know what I've been talking about the last ten minutes, Mr. Fenton?"

"N-No," Danny yawned. He felt a little stupid, but he just couldn't stay awake. He wasn't exactly on the perfect sleeping schedule at the moment.

"If you had, perhaps you'd know about the assignment you've been given," Lancer continued.

"Assignment?" Danny asked in horror, getting the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"Yes, we're drawing partners," Mr. Lancer answered. "I called your name and now we're about to find out who your partner is." Putting his fingers into the mug holding names on slips of paper, Lancer drew out a name with an exasperated sigh. "Dash," he read off the paper.

Danny looked terrified. Dash looked livid. Mr. Lancer just moved on to the next person.

_(He's a Phantom)  
(Danny Phantom)_

_**Yo, Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen  
When his parents built a very strange machine  
It was designed to view a world unseen**_

_(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
_  
**_When it didn't quite work  
His folks, they just quit  
But then Danny took a look inside of it  
There was a great big flash  
Everything just changed  
His molecules got all rearranged!_**

_(Phantom, Phantom)_

_**When he first woke up  
He realized  
He had snow white hair  
And glowing green eyes  
He could walk through walls,  
Disappear, and fly!  
He was much more unique than the other guy! **_

_**It was then that he knew what he had to do  
He had to stop all the ghosts  
That were coming through  
He's here to fight  
For me and YOU!**_

_**(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)**_

**_Gonna catch them all cuz he's_** _Danny Phantom_

And that was how Danny found himself pacing nervously across his kitchen floor later that night. Sam and Tucker, who had been lucky enough to be paired together for the project, sat at the kitchen table as they listened to the same rant Danny had been giving them all day.

"This is terrible!" Danny said, _again_. "If I blow off schoolwork to hunt ghosts, Dash'll pound me to a pulp! And if I don't take down the ghosts, _they'll_ pound me to a pulp…Or just destroy half the town."

"Danny," Sam sighed. "We feel bad for you-"

"Which is why we're here to back you up," Tucker added.

"But, you've already given us this speech at least twenty times today!" she finished.

"No, it's been thirty-eight," supplied Tucker, who was tapping away on one of his gadgets. "I kept track on my new PDA."

With a sigh, Danny collapsed into a chair beside them. He fell face forward on the table and stayed that way for a good half minute until he mumbled something unintelligible.

"Don't worry, Danny," Sam comforted. "You'll be fine!"

"Yeah, totally ignore the fact that Dash will kill you if you don't get a good grade," said Tucker. Sam promptly elbowed him hard.

Groaning, Danny chanced a look at the clock. "It's almost six," he said despairingly. "Dash is gonna be here any minute."

"We'll back you up Danny!" cheered Tucker, supportive once more. "If you need to go ghost, we can cover."

"Yeah, we've practically become experts at that," laughed Sam. "You can count on us."

Danny grinned at his friends. "Thanks, guys," he said, just as the doorbell rang. "Here it goes," Danny choked and walked towards the door like he was marching towards certain death.

Logically, it didn't really make sense that Danny would be so scared of a simple class bully. He had fought hundreds of ghosts _far_ more scary than a football player. But this fear was different. It was more of a fear that he couldn't fight back without getting into something worse. The second Dash knew his secret, Danny was sure that he'd sink lower than geek on the social ladder to freak, and being public enemy number one didn't help matters much. Sure, the whole invasion thing had raised his ghostly popularity on the polls, but he was still a ghost, and unless basic human thought had been altered lately, being a ghost made you a freak. Of course, all this didn't keep Danny from the occasional prank on Dash, just to get him back, or the occasional disappearing trick when being chased. Those sure came in handy.

With that last thought on his mind, Danny opened the door entertaining a humored smirk. Then Danny remembered who was at the door and quickly wiped the smug look off his face.

"Eheh, hey Dash," Danny said weakly to the glaring football player towering over him. "Come on in."

"What were you smiling about, Fenton?" Dash jeered.

"Nothing you'd care to know about," Danny answered quickly.

"Whatever. Let's just get some things straight," growled Dash as he marched towards the kitchen. Tucker and Sam waved nervously at him from the table as he blew past them. "One, we're gonna get a good grade on this or I'll kill you." Dash dumped his backpack on the table. "Two, you're gonna work harder than you've ever worked before or I'll kill you." He opened the door to the fridge and helped himself to a soda. Apparently having those tutoring lessons with Jazz so long ago had made him quite comfortable in the Fenton kitchen. "Three, you can't go ditching me to do all the work, and if you do, I'll kill you. Any questions?" Danny shook his head wordlessly.

"Funny, I never had you down as the morbid type, Dash" Sam muttered from her spot at the table.

"No one asked you," Dash snapped at her.

"Alright, lay off, Dash!" Danny cut in. Behind him, Sam was giving Dash her most feral glare.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Dash advanced towards Danny with a murder attempt glittering in his eyes.

"I'm serious!" Danny exclaimed as he backed towards the wall. "Do you want to get a good grade or not? Shouldn't we get started or something?"

Dash stopped on his warpath and stalked towards the table instead. Pulling a book from his bag, he slammed it down on the table. "Hurry up Fenton!" he commanded as he sat down. "I want to be out of here as soon as possible."

They worked quietly for the next hour, but as neither Danny nor Dash were good students, not much work was accomplished. Dash looked about ready to take out his frustration on Danny when Jazz walked into the room for a snack.

"Hey Danny, Tuck, Sam," said Jazz, expression uncaring. She turned away from the fridge with an apple in hand and blinked. "Why is Dash here?" she asked in surprise.

"We're working on a project," Danny moaned. Then it hit him. A golden opportunity was upon them!

"Jazz, wait!" Danny called as Jazz began to leave the room. His sister stopped and looked down at him quizzically.

"What?"

"Jazz, we have no clue what we're doing," Danny begged. "Please, please, please can you help me out?"

Jazz looked unsure. "I don't know Danny, I have my own homework and I need to-"

Danny cut her off with the innocent, pitiful little brother look. Usually it didn't work, but for some reason, Jazz melted like butter.

"Alright," Jazz sighed, pulling a chair up to the table. "But only this once."

"Thank you!" cheered Danny. Sam and Tucker looked up from where they were studying and even Dash looked happy about it. Unfortunately, a blue wisp of mist chose that exact moment to rise from Danny's mouth.

"Oh shoot…" he muttered.

The second Danny stiffened and went quiet, his friends knew what had happened. Leaning over, Sam asked in a whisper, her lips barely moving, "Ghosts?"

"Maybe it won't cause any problems," Danny murmured hopefully. It was wistful thinking. Below their feet a crash echoed from the lab.

"I'll go see what that was," Danny shouted as he jumped quickly to his feet. "Just stay here, it's probably nothing."

"No way you're ditching me to do all the work, Fenton!" Dash barked, shoving away from the table to follow Danny. Sam and Tucker panicked and moved to intercept him, but a certain teenage girl beat them to it.

"Dash!" exclaimed Jazz suddenly and grabbed the boy's arm. "I haven't talked to you at all since you stopped tutoring. Why don't you tell me about how you've been until Danny comes back?"

Dash's face went blank and he smiled dumbly at her. "No problem," he answered in what was supposed to be a suave voice, and shoved Tucker roughly away from the seat next to Jazz. Sam collected Tucker from the floor and then sneaked out of the room, leaving Dash to Jazz. Or maybe it was the other way around…

Sam led the way on the charge down the basement stairs and jumped the last few steps, sliding to a stop into the lab. What met her was the vision of Danny Phantom observing the effects of a green goo explosion.

"Well, something definitely _was_ here," Danny reported, pointing to the glowing Fenton Portal that Jack must have left open. "What did you guys do about Dash?" he asked as an afterthought.

"Jazz is talking to him," Tucker answered as he edged away from a glob of glowing goo that he could have sworn moved. "We got off easy this time."

"Well, whatever trashed the lab isn't here anymore," said Sam, and Danny nodded his approval. "We better get back upstairs before Dash or your sister gets suspicious."

"And before Dash makes a move on Jazz," Tucker added.

"Oh, bad mental image!" Danny groaned as she transformed into a human again. "I never want to see my sister kissed again."

"What if she gets married?" Sam asked with a smirk as they mounted the stairs.

"Fine! Only then."

The group of friends stepped out of the basement as they broke into laugher, and it carried over as they walked back into the kitchen. Jazz was sitting with her head propped up against her hand and her eyes at half mast while Dash regaled her with stories of his football victories. The second Danny set foot in the kitchen, Jazz cut Dash off.

"So what was it?" she asked in the middle of a particularly boring touchdown pass.

"Just another explosion," Danny offered cryptically. "Normal stuff."

Jazz groaned. "We have to be the only family in the world where that is "normal"! Thinking that way will only hurt your psychological well-being in the future Danny. I'm going to have a talk with dad about stabilizing his machines."

Trying to steer Jazz away from her attempt to help with his psychological well-being, Danny motioned back to the books scattered across the table. "Well, right now my "psychological well-being" is stressed because of a English project. Mind helping out with that?"

Jazz shrugged and looked over the books they had taken notes over so far. Within seconds her face had brightened. "Oh, I remember this stuff," she exclaimed. "It's so interesting! Hang on, I think I kept notes on this from freshman year." She walked calmly out of the room, but Danny distinctly heard her hiss, "You owe me big time, Danny," as she walked past.

When Jazz came back with a pile of notes, she preceded to steer Dash and Danny onto the correct path for their project. Dash looked less than half awake the entire time as he stared unabashedly at Jazz, but Danny soaked it all in, determined to remember everything. With Jazz's help they had accomplished a lot by eight o'clock. The best part of the evening was that no ghosts had attacked, and Dash left the house without an incident.

Danny collapsed on the couch with Tucker and Sam, reveling in his moment of victory. "That went very well," he said smugly. Sam opened her mouth, probably to make sure Danny didn't get too overconfident, but fate beat her to it. Danny was knocked cleanly off his winner's pedestal as a blue mist floated from his mouth.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," laughed Tucker when Danny slumped down into the couch in annoyance.

"Well, I guess we've still got some work to do guys," said Danny, pulling himself up. In a flash of blue, Danny Phantom appeared and flew off through the ceiling.

"Show off," grumbled Sam as they were forced to use the front door.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I was a little happier with this chapter… Until the end anyhow. I think I handled the whole Vlad thing poorly, but maybe I'll get better at handling him as I go on. Whatever.. Thanks to the people who reviewed already. Sorry I had anonymous reviews turned off; I thought the default was that anyone could review. Thanks for telling me Venusgal gives you a gold star

Don't expect me to spit out chapters like this on a regular basis… I was just into writing lately.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Danny Fenton barely dodged the searing pink blast from a very familiar gun. Looping to his right, the ghost boy let off a green blast of his own. A month ago, it would have knocked out the side engine on her glider, but the red-clad girl had certainly built up her skills since she first received her weapons. Instead, she smoothly dodged it.

"Come on, Valerie," Danny pleaded. "I saved the town. Doesn't that put me on any sort of good terms with you?"

"Don't call me by my name, ghost boy!" Valerie shrieked. "I'm gonna get you!" She stamped her foot down on the new button on her glider and high-tech weaponry provided by her gracious sponsor emerged from the machinery. "Eat plasma, ghost!" she snarled.

"Woah, that's new," said Danny, trying to pull off a humored tone.

"You're going DOWN ghost!" yelled the ghost hunter, the broad end of the weapon glowing a deadly color.

Then the school bell rang. With a smug look Danny said, "Aww, you better get to class."

Valerie screamed in annoyance and shot the blast at Danny. Eyes going wide, the young ghost boy raced towards the ground and went intangible into it. The earth above him thundered with the impact of the blast, but Danny was safe. Coming up a short distance away, he watched Valerie shriek at the place where he had disappeared until she finally gave up and ran into the school.

With a tired sigh Danny made himself invisible and flew through a few walls of the school to the boys' bathroom. He landed in a stall and one blue flash later, emerged as a human. He dashed off down the hallway and reached the English room at about the same time as Valerie. They were both huffing and puffing.

"Guess we're late again, huh, Danny," Valerie said breathlessly.

"Were you hunting ghosts again?" Danny asked, equally out of breath.

"Yeah," she replied. "Why are you late?"

"You know my parents," Danny replied as he pushed the door open. He had become quite used to making up excuses. "Ever since the ghost invasion, they've been giving me routine checks for ghosts and going over full safety procedure every time I leave the house."

As they entered the room, Mr. Lancer looked up from where he was taking attendance. "Late again, Mr. Fenton! And Miss Grey with you this time," the teacher noted in his bored tone. "Miss Grey, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call your father. He's requested to know every time you're late for class."

Valerie grumbled darkly under her breath as she took her seat. Danny flopped down into his normal seat beside Sam and Tucker.

"Nice to see you're both still alive," Tucker whispered.

"Both?" asked Sam skeptically.

"Can we not talk about this at school?" Danny groaned. "What if she hears?"

His friends shrugged, but didn't say any more. Mr. Lancer was coming up and down the rows passing out quizzes from a few days ago. Danny's stomach screwed up at the thought of his grade as the teacher walked closer. Sure enough, it was a low D. Groaning, Danny fell face-forward on his desk. Mr. Lancer obviously noticed.

"This isn't hard material Daniel," he said. "You just need to put some effort in. See if you can get your sister to tutor you. She has excellent study methods."

As Mr. Lancer moved on, Danny only groaned. Letting his head fall to the side, Danny looked around the classroom. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Dash get a terrible expression on his face when Lancer handed him the paper. First it was shock, and then it turned to rage. Danny saw the boy's eyes flicker towards him, and instantly Danny knew he would be prey the second class was over. Great, now he could count on injury added to insult. Literally.

The entire class, Danny stayed completely alert and poised for the bell. In his mind, he had the escape plan all drawn up. The second the bell rung, he would sprint from class down the hall. Then he would run into the janitor closet and phase out of it and fly to his locker. From there he could just step out from it. It was a normal occurrence to see Danny Fenton fall out of a locker and no one would think anything of it.

The second one minute was left in the class Danny shoved his books into his backpack. He waited on the edge of his seat as the seconds counted down until…

"Oh, and Mr. Fenton, I'd like to see you after class."

Danny was sure he looked like he had deflated. There went his perfect escape plan. Dash was sure to wait just outside the classroom door to take out his frustration on him.

"Yeah," Danny said dully.

"Yes, sir," Mr. Lancer corrected half-heartedly. A few seconds later the bell rung. "Class dismissed."

Danny shouldered his backpack with a dark scowl on his face. He shuffled up to Mr. Lancer's desk as the other student filed out and tried his best to ignore Dash. When the last person walked through the door Mr. Lancer closed it.

"Now, Mr. Fenton, we need to discuss your grades."

Danny sighed and shifted his weight. "Can we get this over with?"

The teacher disregarded his aggressive tone and simply went on. "Mr. Fenton, as I'm sure you're aware, your grades are slipping drastically. You showed good work ethics at the beginning of the school year, but you're really been letting them slide." Sliding a sheet of grades across to him, he pointed to the average at the bottom. "As you can see, you're currently failing my class. Luckily, we're working on this project now that, if you get a good grade, can boost your average significantly. With that, some bonus work, and a few good test scores, you can pull this up to a passing grade."

Looking up at his student very seriously, Mr. Lancer said, "It all depends on whether you try or not. If you decide not to try, you will have to repeat my class next year. That does not look good on a college application."

"I know, Mr. Lancer," Danny replied with a sigh. "I just have a lot to do right now…"

"Like what?" his teacher asked. "The sports players can get away with that excuse, but I know that you don't do any after school activities besides, how do you say it, 'hanging out' with your friends."

"Yeah, well," mumbled Danny, looking away awkwardly. "You wouldn't really understand."

"Ahhh the ever popular question emerges," Lancer drawled. "If I got a dollar every time a student said that, I would be a very rich man. I assure you, all adults were teenagers at one time, and even though the times have changed, the problems have not."

Danny laughed dryly. "No, _sir_, I'm positive you haven't gone through what I'm going through."

Lancer rolled his eyes and pulled back Danny's grade sheet. "Whatever you say," he said skeptically. "Perhaps you should talk to a school counselor. Talking usually makes people feel better, excluding that little incident with that fake psychiatrist awhile back." The teacher shook his head sadly for a second and then returned his attention to Danny. "You may go now," he said.

"You're not going to give me a pass?" asked Danny incredulously.

"Oh, I'm confident a chipper student like yourself can run to class on time," Lancer responded without looking up from him papers. "Off with you now." He waved Danny towards the door and picked up a red pen to begin grading the papers he was focused on.

Without a second though, Danny tore through the door and made it about three yards before he was slammed against the wall of lockers by both Dash and Kwan. He grunted with the impact, but that only added fuel to the flames. Right now, he was mad.

"Look Fenton!" Dash growled, holding up a paper with a red F scratched on the top.

"Congratulations, Dash," Danny snapped back. "You got a high 'F' this time." His comment earned him an extra slam against the lockers, but he kept his glare.

"Don't try to be smart with me," Dash said. "Listen up. You better not screw up this project. If I don't get a good grade on it, I can't play football anymore."

"Gee, that sure gives me a lot of incentive to do my very best," laughed Danny sarcastically.

"It does if you value your nerdy life," threatened Dash.

Danny was fed up. Glaring straight at Dash, he confessed, "Actually, I have to do good on this project too, or I'll flunk the class. Now that we've both got things riding on this project, can you put me down?"

Dash dropped Danny carelessly and Danny landed easily on the floor. "If you really want to get to work, we can meet at my house tonight at the same time," offered Danny. "Maybe I can get Jazz to help out again." A smile spread across Dash's face, and Danny second guessed himself. "On second thought, I don't think you can get any work done around Jazz."

"What?" snarled Dash as he snapped out of it.

"Do you remember _anything_ from last night?" sighed Danny, his exhaustion from the night's ghost hunt finally catching up with him.

"Well-"

"No, you don't. Maybe you should actually try to do some work yourself before slamming me against lockers," said Danny sternly. With a dark face, he elbowed his way around Kwan and took off towards his next class. As was the pattern for the day, he was late.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

For the second night in a row, Danny found himself opening the door for Dash. 'This better not become a habit,' Danny thought mirthlessly. Danny didn't greet him, but led the way in, and the blonde haired football player followed him without a word. Tonight Sam and Tucker had bailed on him, Sam for a charity ball her parents wrestled her into, and Tucker for a chore spree his parents had been piling up for him.

When Dash headed for the kitchen, Danny was the first to speak. "We can't work in there today," he said, the sudden sound of a voice catching Dash's attention. To Dash's questioning glance, Danny explained, "My dad blew up a new invention in there after school." Danny shrugged. "It's covered in green junk, so we'll have to work out here in the living room.

"Whatever," mutter Dash, dropping his backpack by the coffee table.

Danny had already gotten his stuff spread out on the table, and quickly did an overview of the things Jazz had helped them figure out last night. Dash wore an expression that clearly showed he'd rather be anywhere else, but he paid attention nonetheless. Surprisingly enough, Danny found himself recalling the information easily. Maybe Jazz really was a good tutor, Danny decided.

After that, they did more research. About thirty minutes in, Danny decided to do some research on his computer. After telling Dash, he ran out of the room and took the stairs two at a time.

Meanwhile, Dash sat in the living room, dutifully doing the boring research. His mind was starting to wander away from the reading and it was getting harder and harder to concentrate. At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Thankful for the distraction, and disregarding that he wasn't in his own home, Dash got up and answered the door. There stood a grey haired man with piercing eyes and a fine tailored suit.

"Good evening, son," said the man in his deep, suave voice. "Who are you, and do you happen to know if the Fenton's are home?"

"Uh, yeah," answered Dash. "And I'm just here doing a stupid project with Fent– er… Danny."

"Interesting…" the man replied. Somehow he radiated a certain sureness about him, bordering on smug. The way he held himself showed he knew how to handle the world, and hinted than he did so often. There was also something familiar about him, but Dash couldn't put his finger on it.

"And where is young Daniel now?" asked the man. His blue eyes bored into Dash, leaving no room for nonsense.

"He went to look something up," Dash said uneasily, feeling awkward under the man's stare. After a few moments, the man swept through the door and stood in the living room as Dash shut it.

"Then I'll just go find his parents," he announced, turning for the kitchen door. At the same time, Danny rushed through the doorway, printed papers in one hand and a towel in the other as he hopped clumsily and tried to wipe green goo off his sneakers.

"Look at all this stuff I-" Danny stopped at the sight of Vlad Masters standing beside his couch. Instantly he tensed up.

"You!" Danny snapped, despite trying to keep his voice calm. "What are you doing here?" For a split second his eyes glowed green.

"Why, I'm visiting my old college friends, of course," Vlad said with a smooth smile. Glancing pointedly at Dash he asked, "What else would I be doing here?"

"Leave," Danny growled, stomping over to the door and opening it wide. "My parents are working right now."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Vlad. "Oh, but before I go see them, why don't you introduce me to your other guest? It's only polite."

Simmering, Danny pointed at Vlad. "Dash, this is Vlad Masters. Vlad, this is Dash. We're not friends."

Vlad nodded politely and held out his hand to Dash. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dash," the older man said as he shook Dash's hand.

The name clicked in Dash's mind. "Wait, Vlad Masters?" he exclaimed. "As in, the rich billionaire guy?"

"The one and only," Vlad said absentmindedly, extracting his hand from Dash's own. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Vlad made a short bow and flashed Danny a smirk before walking carefully into the kitchen.

"I hope Mom pours tea on your head again!" Danny called after him, slamming the door shut with a resounding bang. He sunk into the couch with a scowl and shoved the papers at Dash. "There," he muttered. "Read those."

"Dude, Fenton, what's your problem?" asked Dash as he took the papers and threw them on the table. "He's one of the richest guys in the world and you're trying to kick him out of your house? How do you know him anyhow?"

"He's my dad's friend from college," replied Danny. He heaved a book off the coffee table. "And you don't know him like I do," he said knowingly. The dark expression on Danny's face said volumes more, but he didn't expand on it. "Can you _please _just work?" Not waiting for an answer, Danny slouched down and shielded himself from sight with a large volume on the works of William Shakespeare.

Dash was left to consider the fact that loser Danny Fenton knew one of the richest men in the world, and for some reason, hated him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I never thought I'd get any, and they're very encouraging. Nonetheless, as I read through these stories, I think my writing ability really pales in comparison with what I _can_ do. It's really rather annoying.

I think I'll also use this little space as a mini rant. And the crowds go wild… Why does everyone call Danny a halfa! A ghost with an accent from the fifties tells Danny that people call him that. Maybe my memory is off, but I don't remember a single other ghost in the series calling him that. It just sounds stupid. "Halfa" sounds like a fifties accent way of saying "halfer" and even that sounds stupid. But its better than halfa. I will REFUSE to call Danny a halfa in my fics. The word just bugs me to death. Yeah… grrrr.

Contrary to what I said in my last A/N, I do seem to be spitting out chapters ToT Why can't I do this on my ORIGINAL story! I have a writers block on that one.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

By the next morning at school it had already spread like wildfire that Danny Fenton knew Vlad Masters. Danny walked to class amid excited murmurs with his head hanging low. Everyone finally recognized him and it was because of his most dangerous enemy. It was bad enough to try and figure out what Vlad was up to _without_ everyone around Danny going on about the man like he was some sort of business hero.

"Danny!" cried a voice with a distinct accent.

Inwardly, Danny groaned. In any other situation, Danny would have been enthralled to hear that voice say his name, but he _really_ didn't want to be in Vlad's debt in any way, shape, or form. Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what he was doing.

"Do you really know Vlad Masters?" Paulina asked excitedly as she pranced up behind him. The crowd around them peeled their ears for the conversation. They had heard the rumor, but not from Danny himself.

"I don't want to talk about him," grumbled Danny as he blew past the Latino girl. Paulina wasn't one to be blown off, however, and stuck to him like glue down the hallway.

"Oh, don't be like that Danny," Paulina chided, sliding a companionable arm around Danny. "Come on, Dash said he was friends with your parents in college. What's he like?"

Eyes narrowing, Danny shrugged her arm off and turned to face her with his arms crossed. "Look, Paulina, I said I don't want to talk about that creep," he snapped, his voice rising. "Stop asking me!"

For a few seconds, Paulina stood there looking shocked. Her feminine persuasion hadn't worked? On a teenage boy? She didn't have to think about it long though, because Dash Baxter had come up beside her, his face dark.

"Hey Fenton!" he yelled. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

With a yelp, Danny turned on his heel and tore down the corridor. Dash remained at his heels.

"You might know a rich guy, but you're still a loser Fen_terd_!" shouted Dash. "You need to be put back in your place: in a locker!"

Danny put on an extra spurt of speed around a corner, pumping his legs for all they were worth. Unfortunately, Mr. Lancer happened to be rounding the corner, and Danny bowled right into him. Papers went flying and Mr. Lancer toppled over. Danny tripped a few steps, but regained his footing and prepared to take off again, when a strong hand tightened around his shoulder in an iron grip.

"Good morning, Daniel," Vlad Masters smirked. "You're certainly energetic in the mornings aren't you?"

Dash slid around the corner with a rage-red face. "You're going down Fen-" As soon as Dash caught sight of Vlad, his eyes went wide and his mouth snapped shut.

Danny ignored Dash for the moment. He recovered from the slight shock of seeing Vlad in his school and quickly wretched Vlad's hand off his shoulder. "What are you doing in my school?" hissed Danny, eyes flashing a dangerous green.

"I'm here on business," said Vlad casually. "Surely you didn't think I came to Amity Park simply to have a little social time with your parents?" He flashed that annoying, arrogant smile that Danny always wanted to shove down his throat.

Mr. Lancer had collected himself and walked back up to Danny and Vlad with an unorganized pile of papers and an ironed out smile. "Mr. Fenton!" he said in a strained tone. "You'll have to thank your parents for being in relation with Mr. Masters. I don't think we would have gained his attention any other way."

It was too much for Danny's curiosity. "Wait, what's going on?" asked Danny.

"I've decided to support Casper High," explained Vlad, taking over. "You see, I've always had a passing interest in ghosts, and since the rise of ghost activity in Amity Park, I've had my research labs look into them a little more."

Putting an arm around Danny's shoulders, Vlad pulled the reluctant boy along the hall with him as he continued talking. "You see, with all that research we were able to collect a good amount of fact. And now we've compiled a very nice paranormal studies textbook in order to well inform the students of Amity Park." Pulling open the door to the science lab, Vlad waved his hand at the stacks of purple textbooks piling over the desks.

Danny looked on in amazement. Picking one up, he leafed through it. It looked informative enough, but Danny wouldn't put it past Vlad to fill it with half-truths and a few scattered lies.

For a moment Danny forgot Mr. Lancer was standing at the door. "What are you planning Vlad?" Danny asked suspiciously, looking up from the book in his hands to cast a stubborn stare at the man. Knowing that Vlad didn't feel threatened by him, Danny half expected Vlad to outline his manipulative plan right there.

Luckily for Vlad's plans, Vlad was a little more observant than Danny. "Well, since my business has been doing so well lately, I have a lot of time on my hands."

"I'll say," muttered Danny.

Vlad ignored Danny's mumblings and continued through them. "Because of this, I've offered to teach a week of seminars on the book for the whole school." As Mr. Lancer came up beside him, Vlad patted the vice-Principal on the back. "Luckily, my offer was accepted, and here I am; ready to mold impressionable teenage minds to do whatever I want them to." His face remained serious for a few seconds before the man burst into laughter.

"Oh, I just crack myself up sometimes," Vlad chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. Danny's eyes narrowed, but Lancer laughed along.

The warning bell rang and Danny was for once happy that class was about to start. It would be a welcomed excuse to get away from Vlad. "I need to get going now," Danny explained, edging towards the door.

"Of course, Daniel," Vlad said, turning away from him. "We don't want you to be late." Just as Danny reached the door, Vlad whipped around.

"By the way, Daniel, I would appreciate if you set a good example for the other students by calling me 'Mr. Masters' while we're in at school."

"Oh, whatever you say _Mr. Masters_," Danny drawled, drowning the name in as much sarcasm as possible.

Vlad's brow creased. "Well I'm glad you agree," he said shortly. "I hope you understand; your calling me by my first name doesn't command much of the respect required between teacher and student. You're welcome to call me by my first name while we're not at school, like friends."

Danny knew his smile looked sickly, and he wanted it that way. "Or mortal enemies," he said, pausing a few seconds before bursting into hysterically fake laugher. Wiping a non-existent tear from his cheek, Danny smirked. "Gee, I just such a josher," he said smoothly. With that, he left the room.

"Charles Dickens, I better get going too," Lance exclaimed. "I look forward to your assemblies later, Mr. Masters." He left the lab as well, leaving Vlad to his solitude.

Vlad was gritting his teeth in annoyance. The boy's gall never failed to irk him in some way, harmless as it was most of the time. He had underestimated the boy before, but new calculations could always be made. And they were.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Danny was relaying the news about Vlad to Sam and Tucker when Mr. Lancer's voice came over the intercom system.

"Good morning, students," the static voice said. "It's a beautiful Friday morning, and I'm sure you're all looking forward to the football game tomorrow night and the weekend ahead. Come to the game tomorrow to support your home team!

"Also, starting next week, we will be on a special schedule. Mr. Vlad Masters has generously provided new paranormal textbooks for us, and will be teaching a seminar from them every afternoon next week. Come prepared with a notebook to take notes. That is all."

A buzz echoed throughout the room at this new piece of information. More than one person came over to Danny asking if he had anything to do with it. After the first two 'No's, Danny glared any oncoming person away.

"Danny is turning away popular attention," Tucker observed. "Has the end of the world come without me noticing?"

Danny rolled his eyes. Propping a pencil up on its eraser, he shook his head. "I don't want any popularity that comes through _Mr. Masters_," Danny explained.

Sam scoffed. "Mr. Masters?" she laughed. "Where'd that come from?"

"To 'set a good example for the other students' and 'show respect'," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "I just want to know what he's really planning. He's always five steps ahead of me."

"Hey, he's got at least fifteen years of dealing in the business world on you," Tucker said, shrugging. "He didn't become a billionaire just by being determined."

"You know Tucker, your encouragement never really helps," Danny said and poked him with the pencil eraser.

"Maybe for now you just need to keep up with the things he tosses at you," Sam offered. "Worry about the bigger problems later."

"That's really the only choice I have," Danny sighed. He was going to say something else, but Valerie appeared in front of the groups as if out of thin air.

"I'm so excited that Mr. Masters is coming to teach next week!" the ghost hunting girl cheered. Apparently there was no one else in the class she felt she could gush to.

"We're not," the group of three replied together dully.

"Why not," asked Valerie in confusion. "Isn't he a family friend, Danny? And he's, like, a genius when it comes to ghosts!"

"Why do you think he's a genius?" Same challenged, determined to make the other girl leave. Valerie's challenge after Pariah Dark's invasion hadn't left Sam's mind in the least.

Valerie caught her mistake. "Ah… um… He _is_ a billionaire," she said awkwardly.

"Hmm, and how does that apply to ghosts?" Sam asked sweetly.

Valerie looked lost, and Danny was considering how to help her out without making Sam mad when they were all saved by the bell. Literally.

Mr. Lancer entered the room and ushered the students into their seats as he took attendance. "I trust you are all nearly done with your research," he said when he finished. "Over the weekend you should begin on your outlines for the written presentation, and on Wednesday I want all your bibliographical information. Your first rough draft will be due next Friday."

Danny sighed. The last thing he wanted to think about with Vlad around was a stupid English project. He had gotten lucky all week with a slump in ghost attacks, but that could end quickly, especially with his worst enemy around. Across the room, Dash didn't look any happier than Danny. Danny made a quick mental note to avoid Dash for the rest of the day.

The second the bell rang, Danny did just that, leaving Sam and Tucker in the dust.

"That was weird," Tucker said, blinking.

Sam stared at Danny's fading back. "And rather sudden," she added. "You think there's a ghost?"

"Maybe he just has to go to the bathroom?"

Shrugging, the two friends set off to the next class. Meanwhile, Danny was executing the plan he had formed the day before. He sprinted down the hall, transformed in the janitor's closet, and flew through the halls, invisible, and then phased into his locker. The plan went off without a hitch.

Danny tripped over the edge of his locker in his haste to get out, and fell head over heels to the floor. Laugher echoed through the hall, but Danny ignored it as was normal and started to get to his feet when a hand grabbed his and pulled him easily to his feet.

So, his plan had gone off without a hitch, but that was disregarding the fact that Vlad Masters had been walking past Danny's locker at the time he stepped out of it.

"You really should be more careful when exiting lockers, Daniel," Vlad said softly, but the sarcasm was evident. "Trying to avoid someone?"

"Not you, if that's what you're asking," Danny replied, snatching his hand away. "You give yourself too much credit. You're not the only person I think about." Seeing an opportunity, Danny smirked. "Of course, I'd be surprised if you have _anyone_ who thinks only about you. Just another perk of being old and alone, I guess!" With a last laugh, Danny took off down the corridor to his next class.

Vlad ground his teeth together in an attempt to remain calm, and continued on his way down the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was lunch and Danny had successfully avoided Dash all day. He sat at a secluded table outside with Sam and Tucker, slouching as much as possible.

"Gees, Danny," Tucker groaned. "You're really tense over Dash today."

"I hate to say I agree," Sam said, taking a bite of her salad. Tucker eyed it with disdain and drew a beef sandwich from his paper lunch bag. "So he's gonna try to hit you a few times. You can handle it. I mean, it's not like Dash is some sort of psychotic ghost who's out to manipulate our school, steal your mom, and kill your dad. If there was someone like that around here, then you'd have to watch out." Calmly, his goth friend took a bite of her meal.

"Oh gee, that was oddly specific," Danny said in annoyance. "Thanks for the sarcasm Sam."

"Glad to be of service," she grinned and poked him with her fork a few times.

"You do realize that fork has been in her mouth, don't you Danny?" Tucker asked mischievously.

Blushes were ignited on both of the teenagers' faces and Sam threw her fork at Tucker. Hard.

"Oh, shut up Tucker!" said Sam harshly, but all the friends knew it was in fun. Sam quickly excused herself to get a new fork. On her way past Tucker she snatched his hat straight off his head and dashed across the school lawn waving it above her head.

"Sam!" yelled Tucker, chasing after her. "Give it back!"

Danny was caught in throes of laughter. Leave it to Sam and Tucker to get him out of a foul mood. Unfortunately, his foul mood had been well founded.

"Hey, Fenton," sang a cocky voice behind him. "You're due for a beating!"

Dash's fist connected with the side of Danny's face and he toppled off the table bench into the dirt. Danny shoved himself to his knees and glared up at Dash.

"What the heck was that for?" he asked angrily, rubbing his cheek. "Don't you have something better to do?" A crowd was gathering around them, cornering Danny in.

"No, you've got the next few minutes of my schedule totally to yourself," grinned Baxter. In one swift move, Dash snatched Danny off the ground and slammed him in the face again.

Danny staggered backwards, seeing double. "Look, Dash," he snapped, wiping a bloody lip. "I'm _really_ not in the mood right now."

"Tough," was the football player's only reply before he swung at Danny again.

Maybe it was because of how tense he had been all day, but when Danny saw that fist coming, his instincts took over. He ducked, and one split second later delivered a roundhouse kick to Dash's head, sending him straight to the ground.

The chants of "Fight, fight!" were silence instantly and everyone stared in amazement at Danny. Danny stood in his low fighting stance, breathing regularly, and then abruptly snapped out of it.

"Oh crud," he murmured. Dash was looking up at him in dazed shock.

Finally one jock stepped forward, echoing what everyone was thinking. "What the heck?"

"Hello?" he exclaimed, waving his arms. "_He_ was beating _me_ up! It was self-defense!"

In front of him, Dash recovered and shoved himself to his feet. "Move it, man," Dash growled to the other jock. "Fenton, I'm gonna kill you for that."

Gulping, Danny backed up. "I didn't mean to," he stammered. "It was just an automatic reaction, you know." He backed up a few more feet and a pair of hands caught him and shoved him forward.

"Oh, I know," sneered Dash, pounding his fish into his palm. "I'm feeling an automatic reaction coming on too."

Dash swung and Danny dodged, drawing back his arm to defend himself, but that was as far as he got. A hand snapped around his wrist and pulled him back. Yelping, Danny hop-tripped a few feet back and looked up to see Vlad staring down at him.

"Vlad! You again?" Danny yelled and yanked his hand away. "Are you stalking me or something? Leave me alone!"

"Now, now, Danny," Vlad chided as Danny glared at him. "What would your parents think if they heard you got in a fight?" He pulled Danny out of the circling crowd, which parted to allow Vlad through. "On an entirely different subject, are you so stupid that you have already forgotten our conversation this morning?"

"Forgotten: no. Disregarded: yes," Danny replied.

"Wonderful to know that this generation's youth has an utter disregard for respect," muttered Vlad. Once they rounded the corner and were out of the sight of all students, Vlad snatched Danny up by the collar and slammed him against the brick wall off the school.

"What in the world were you thinking?" he hissed, the black rings washing over him and revealing Plasmius.

Danny was surprised by the sudden attack, and struggled fruitlessly against Vlad's firm grip. The older ghost had a good hold on Danny in case he tried to phase through the wall, but didn't let him move forward either.

"I was defending myself," Danny snarled.

"Do you even have a clue what you were doing?" asked Plasmius incredulously. Raising his hand over his head, clawed up as if about to shoot an ectoplasmic blast, Vlad demonstrated what he had seen. "It looked a bit like this."

Danny's eye's widened. "I did that?" he squeaked, wincing at the weak sound of his voice.

Vlad dropped his hand back to his side and rolled his eyes. "Yes, you did that!" he cried in exasperation. "Really, how stupid can you get? Do you have _any_ control over your body?" The other half ghost dropped Danny to the ground.

Danny straightened his shirt, refusing to look at Vlad.

"Forget _me_ ruining your life," Vlad sneered as he transformed back to normal. "You're obviously doing a much better job than I ever had planned."

Danny tried to think up a snappish comment as Vlad walked away, but in the moment nothing came to mind.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So many reviews! o.o I feel so loved... If I have time I'll edit this any reply to them all, but I don't have time right now and I just want to get this chapter up. I really liked the beginning of this chapter... and it's longer, so I like that too. I guess I'm getting more into the fanfiction thing. When I finish the story, I'll definitely have to go back and redo the first two chapters. The first one really sucks...

Without further ado: Chapter 4 of Project Perils. Enjoy, I hope

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"AHHHHH!" screamed Danny as he was thrown through the school bleachers. Luckily, he went intangible in time and flew straight through them, but he also continued flying into the course of the football game. Unable to pull up in time, he knocked the football out of its flying arch and ruined the pass.

With an "oomph" Danny skidded across the grass, landing right in front of the opposing team. Scream of "Ghost!" echoed from the visiting players and their fans, while groans and annoyed shouts rolled out from Casper High's fans.

"Gosh, Phantom!" Dash yelled, running over and waving his hands over his head. "You just ruined the perfect pass."

Groaning, Danny sat up. "Gee, I'm sorry," he replied sarcastically. "I'll leave now so a giant, three-eyed ghost snake can crash your game." Just as the words escaped his mouth, the giant snake reared through the bleachers and sprang towards the cheerleaders.

"Move it!" Danny yelled, pushing Dash out of the way and tearing across the field. He flew so fast that the grass beneath him unearthed and he reached the snake just in time, catching the monster by its massive jaws. For a few seconds he quivered to hold back the weight, and then turned, using the snake's momentum against it, and flung the beast high above the stadium. Racing the snake to the pinnacle of its flight, Danny raised a hand high and slammed it down onto the snake, firing an ectoplasmic blast. Seconds before the snake hit the ground Danny whipped out the Fenton thermos and sucked the monster into its confines.

Silence flooded the stadium for a few shocked moments before the crowd went wild. The football players ran over and gave him bone-shattering smacks on the back, followed closely by the cheerleaders. He only had a few seconds notice before Paulina flung herself around his neck.

"Inviso-bill!" she squealed. "You saved me _again_!"

"Uh, yeah," stammered Danny, a little overwhelmed by all the attention. "And my name's not 'Inviso-bill'. That sounds stupid."

"Then what is your name?" Paulina asked in confusion, pulling away from him to look at his face.

"Danny Phantom," Danny said very clearly. Hopefully he could hammer the last nail in "Inviso-Bill's" coffin tonight.

"Danny Phantom, huh," said Paulina slowly, as if testing the words out. "You're right! That sounds even more hot!"

"Uh, right," stammered Danny, blushing.

A familiar voice snapped Danny out of his daze. "Hey, 'Inviso-Bill'," Sam called sarcastically as she shoved her way past Kwan. "Got a memo for you."

Danny looked at her in confusion and pried Paulina off his neck. "What?" Danny floated over to her and Sam leaned up to whisper something in his ear.

"Oh crud!" Danny shouted floating up into the air. "Gotta go everyone," he called down. "Thanks for the tip-off Sam."

"No problem," Sam called back. When she returned her gaze from the sky she found Paulina nearly growling at her.

"What's your problem, goth geek?" Paulina demanded, hands on her hips. "You totally interrupted us!" It took her a few seconds, but then a thought hit her.

"Wait! He called you 'Sam' didn't he?" said Paulina. "How does Danny Phantom know _your_ name?"

Sam froze up. "Well…" she trailed, looking around for an escape. Then a very unkind thought popped into Sam's head and she smirked.

"Well, because he's saved me at least fifty times," Sam replied confidently. "After that you just sort of get to know someone, you know? And I see you _finally_ figured out his real name."

Paulina was nearly quivering with rage. "You're just trying to get me back for using your nerdy friend Danny," the cheerleader accused. "That's, like, so shallow!"

Sam laughed dryly. "Actually, bringing that memory back to mind only makes this situation all the more amusing," she said knowingly. "I'll let you all get on with your violent contact sport now." Leaving Paulina simmering, Sam walked coolly off the field.

On the other side of town, Danny was finishing off Klemper. Shivering, he sucked the annoying ghost into the thermos. "You'd think s-someone in the ghost z-zone would be his fr-friend," Danny studdered as he rubbed his arms back to warmth.

Tucker shrugged. "You wanna go back to the game?" he asked.

Grabbing Tucker by the shoulders, Danny phased out of the warehouse he had been fighting in and flew over the town. "Actually, I should probably get to work on that outline while there aren't any ghosts around," he said slowly. A building below them caught his eye, and Danny flashed a mischievous grin.

"Right after a short game of Doomed," he finished, landing in the side alley beside the internet café. Transforming back into a human, Danny and Tucker pranced happily inside for a little frag-fest.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Early Monday morning Dash nailed Danny and stole the overview that Danny had written late the night before. As Danny collected himself off the floor sluggishly, Dash copied it. It seemed like Dash was pounding him harder than he had before last Friday. Danny guessed Dash wasn't going to give him another chance to send him to the ground.

Dash shoved Danny's now crumpled overview into Danny's chest and stomped off wordlessly. Annoyed, Danny smoothed it out and slid it back into his backpack.

Danny met his friends in front of his locker sporting a black eye.

"Wow, are you alright man?" Tucker asked.

Danny glanced over at him with a "what do you think, idiot?" sort of look.

"Right, right, sorry man," Tucker replied, waving his hands in defense. "It was a standard question."

"Woah, déjà vu," Sam muttered as they hurried to English.

English class was a nice change of pace compared to Danny's other classes. While Mr. Lancer didn't think Danny's overview was earth-shattering, he did say it was an abnormally good piece of work for Danny. It was the high point of his academic achievements that day however. Danny bombed a math test and accidentally killed his goldfish in biology. Sam definitely scolded him for that.

Danny and his friends sneaked into a secluded classroom for lunch to avoid Dash and ate most of the meal in silence. Vlad's seminar was hanging over Danny's head like a thundercloud, and it did nothing to lighten the mood between the friends.

And Sam was becoming annoyed about it too. "Danny!" she cried after several failed attempts from Tucker to crack a joke. "Vlad's not gonna blast the school in the middle of his speech."

Danny stared at her. He knew _that_.

"If he says something blatantly wrong about ghosts, just correct him," Sam offered. "I mean, your parents _are_ ghost hunters slash paranormal scientists slash ghost-hunting equipment inventors."

Tucker joined Danny in his blank stare this time. "Please," said Tucker dryly. "Never use the word 'slash' in a sentence again. I'm a techno geek and I don't even say that!"

Sam laughed. "Survey says: I don't care what you think." Pausing, she added, "But point taken."

The bell rang and a PA announcement buzzed throughout the school, ushering the students to the gym. Danny filed in with his friends and receivined a purple textbook at the door, keeping his head down until he caught a glance of Vlad's fine tailored suit. Vlad noticed him as well, and cast him a wry smile. Danny replied with a glare.

Danny filed up to the top of the bleachers with his friends and slouched down against the back wall. He wore a bitter expression, daring anyone to ask _anything_ about Affluence Magazine's "Billionaire of the Year."

A wad of paper hit Danny's forehead, falling into his lap. It was followed closely by a barrage of paper balls. A few rows below him, Dash and his friends laughed.

"What happened to you Fen-TON?" Kwan yelled, copying Dash's name for Danny. "You look like you swallowed a cat!" He threw one last paper ball at Danny, nailing him between the eyes.

Before Danny could lose his very short temper, Mr. Lancer stepped up to the podium. "Quiet down students!" he called through a microphone. It took a good thirty seconds, but the gym finally simmered down to a steady silence.

"It is my distinct honor to introduce to you Mr. Vladamir Masters." Lancer stepped aside for the grey-haired gentleman, who raised his hands to quiet the applause.

"It is very nice to be here in Amity Park," said Vlad smoothly. "But you're not here to listen to me flatter your town, now are you?

"I suppose it's only fair to introduce myself before I begin giving you an overview of my new textbook. I have always had a passing interest in the supernatural, but for awhile it went on the back-burner as I pursued more pertinent business matters. At the class reunion which I hosted a few months ago, a ghost attacked, and it made me once again curious about the paranormal. Since there were reports of frequent ghost attacks in Amity Park, I began research in my special labs…"

Danny yawned and propped his head up with his hand as Vlad continued talking. Everyone in the crowd below hung on to every word, but Danny was extremely bored. The only thing that kept him awake was the thought that Vlad might turn the school against him again, and he needed most of his wits to be ready to debate Vlad if and when he said something false.

That didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

Vlad finally finished explaining his false life story and opened the textbook, instructing the students to do so as well. Danny flipped his open dully and scanned over the first page.

"… since ghosts appear on the human plane because they remain attached to something, the ghosts we see in the human world are all malevolent," Vlad was saying.

Danny perked up and shot his hand into the air. Vlad looked up, but ignored him, so Danny yelled, "_Mr. Masters_ I have a question!"

Vlad faltered. "Yes, Daniel?" he said, a twinge of annoyance touching his voice.

"There is such a thing as a friendly ghost living on the human plane," Danny yelled down.

"And why do you say that?" Vlad replied, his voice riddled with tolerance. He was giving the impression that he was simply humoring Danny.

"Well, not all ghosts are attached to something in the human world," Danny replied. "Most of them are stuck in the ghost zone and can only get here through a portal."

Vlad opened his mouth to speak, but Danny cut him off. "And just because a ghost is attached to something on the human plane doesn't make it evil. I met a friendly ghost in your house when our family visited for the family reunion."

"Is that so?" Vlad said offhandedly. "And who was this ghost?"

"The Dairy King," Danny answered confidently. "It used to be his house, remember? You bragged about it when we first came."

Vlad smirked. "If this ghost lives in my house, and I have so much ghost detecting equipment, how is it that I have never seen him?"

"Maybe he doesn't like you," Danny challenged.

"Then that doesn't make him very friendly, does it?" countered Vlad.

"Or maybe you're the unfriendly one," Danny shot back.

Vlad tightened his grip on the podium where no one could see. "Well, that was an incredibly enlightening conversation," the older man drawled, "but perhaps we should return to the real information." Students around Danny snickered.

The assembly seemed to drag on for an eternity. Danny caught at least five more half-truths from Vlad, but every time he questioned them Vlad made him look like an idiot. At the end, Vlad emphasized a lie, decorating it with long scientific words. Before Danny had a chance to debate him, the gym was dismissed and he could barely hear himself think over the chatter.

Vlad was shaking hands by the door, so the line to get out was very slow. Danny and his friends were stuck near the very end of the line, and by the time they reached the door nearly everyone had gone.

Danny walked up to Vlad and looked at the hand that Vlad offered him dubiously. "Look Vlad," he sneered. "You may have tricked everyone here, but the second I show this to my parents, you're going down…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"V-man! This stuff is amazing!" Jack exclaimed as he poured over the textbook Vlad had given him. Across the room Danny was banging his head against the wall.

"Well, I had a lot of our research from college to go off of," Vlad replied coolly, sneaking a smirk Danny's way when Jack wasn't looking.

From counter, Maddie glanced suspiciously at Vlad. She had to keep reminding herself that she no longer hated the man because he had saved Danny's life during the ghost invasion. She finished pouring a cup of tea for Vlad (Jack preferred coffee) and set it on the table.

"Let me see that," Maddie said, stealing the textbook from under Jack's hands. Danny looked up in hope. If his dad didn't see the lies in the book, maybe his mom would.

"This is different," Maddie said in a trailing voice as she flipped through pages. "Some of this is opposite of the things we've found through research."

"Well that's to be expected in such an unstable field of science," Vlad replied. "I tried to emphasize the things I knew were true, but I can't fully endorse everything in the book until at least ten years of steady research is done. The school system needed it now, though, so I did the best I could with what I had."

Danny groaned as his mom nodded understandingly. "It looks like a well-written book," she complimented, handing it back to Jack, who was practically begged her for it.

"Thank you for the input Maddie," said Vlad suavely. He paused. "And Jack," he added. "Your input is _much_ appreciated."

It was too much for Danny. He stormed bitterly out of the room before Vlad found a way to gloat silently as well.

Once in his room, Danny collected his backpack from where he had tossed it on his bed earlier that day. Just after school let out Dash had cornered Danny and informed him that they would be meeting at his house that night to work on their project. Danny was a little late leaving since he had hung around in the kitchen when Vlad came to visit, but he figured that if he flew most of the way he would be basically on time.

In one familiar flash, blue rings traveled over Danny's body, turning his hair white and his eyes a piercing green. Hoisting the backpack over his shoulder, Danny phased through the wall. Once outside he turned invisible. He didn't need the 36 that still thought he was a criminal heckling him during his short flight.

Danny transformed in an alley about a block from Dash's house and ran the rest of the way. Slumping against the wall outside the door, he caught his gasping breath and rang the doorbell.

Dash opened his door and looked down at Danny with a raised eyebrow. "Get inside already," he said, stepping away from the door. "You're late."

Giving him an exasperated stare, Danny stepped inside. The room wasn't much different than the last time he had been here, except there were no teenagers chattering away in "loser sheik". Feeling a little awkward, Danny was reluctant to drop his bag on the floor.

"We can work in the kitchen," Dash announced, walking in that direction. Danny followed at a safe distance. "My parents are gone for the night, and I'm having a party at eight, so I want to get this over with fast."

"Whatever," said Danny, dropping his backpack on the table with a resounding bang. His head still hurt from hitting it on the wall earlier and he didn't want to add to the headache by dealing with Dash.

Danny explained his outline to Dash while Dash pointed out what he thought was wrong with it. Then they began working on a rough, rough draft as Dash dictated and Danny wrote, adding his own sections when Dash blanked out. Halfway through "… which emphasized, um, that deceit is punished in the end…" Danny shivered and felt a breath of cold air escape his mouth.

Dash stopped in the middle of his dictation and stared at Danny. "What's up with you?" he asked, not a caring syllable in the question. "It's not cold in here."

"Uh, I'll be right back," Danny stammered, nearly knocking his chair over in his haste to get out of the room.

Before Danny even reached the end of the table something slammed into his gut and nailed him into the floor. Danny struggled to move, but a combat boot stomped down on him, canceling that option. He slumped back to the ground with his breath knocked out of him and tried to remove the foot that stayed solidly on his chest.

"Hello ghost child," said Skulker dryly from above Danny.

Off to the side Dash was screaming and ran for the door. Rolling his eyes, Skulker lazily shot a net and reeled Dash back in. He threw the bagged boy against the wall in plain view and returned his attention to Danny. The mechanical ghost's arm whirred for a second and then a glowing net shot from it, engulfing the struggling Danny.

"There won't be any phasing out of this one, ghost child," Skulker chuckled gleefully as he flicked the material.

"Can you not call me that?" Danny hissed with a nervous glance in Dash's direction. Skulker picked up on the glance and followed it towards Dash.

"I've been watching you," Skulker said slowly. "What is it about that boy that inspires fear in you more than I do?"

"Umm," Danny hummed, eyes darting between Skulker and Dash. "I mean, AHHHHH GHOOOOST!"

Skulker knocked him over the head half-heartedly. "Shut up ghost child," he muttered, stalking towards Dash.

"Why is this boy so scared of you?" he demanded, motioning to Danny.

Dash squirmed under the ghost's stare, scared, but not as much as he would have been a month ago. Pariah Dark's invasion seemed to have made the people of Amity Park less scared of the fact the ghosts appeared and focused the fear more on the specific ghosts themselves.

"I just knock him around a little," Dash squeaked. "Don't kill me!"

Skulker's eyes narrowed. "The ghost child isn't scared of getting hit," he said suspiciously. "You're not telling the truth."

"Give him a break Skulker!" Danny yelled from across the floor. "He doesn't know anything."

"Yeah, I-" Dash paused. "Hey! You better shut up Fenton, or I'll…"

"Do what, genius?" Danny scowled. "Glare at me? I'm scared now."

Skulker watched the boys' banter, clearly confused. Finally he had enough and shoved a glowing blaster point into Danny's face. Danny shut up instantly.

"Well, it matters not," said Skulker with a deadly grin. "Soon your pelt will adorn my fireplace."

Danny grimaced, the blaster in his face forgotten. "Dude, that's so gross," he groaned. "If you're going to put someone on display could you at least stuff them?"

"Don't mock me!" Skulker growled, prodding Danny with his free hand. "I'm the ghost zone's greatest hunter!"

"And that's why you haven't caught me before now," Danny scoffed.

Skulker drew back and frowned. "Actually, I had considered this," he admitted. "I claimed to be the greatest ghost-hunter, and yet once I thought about it, you were catching more ghosts than I was. Which was why I borrowed _this_ from your parents' lab the other day." With a smug smirk, Skulker held up a Fenton thermos.

Danny's eyes widened. "That was _you_?" he asked incredulously. He paused. "Wait, why was the lab trashed with green goo then?"

Skulker shrugged. "I decided to make a little mess on my way out," he grinned. "Did you have to clean it up?"

Ignoring the last comment, Danny glared at Skulker (which looked much less threatening since he was bound and laying on his side). "Great, so you have a thermos, what are you going to do with it?"

"Oh, I'm not doing anything with this primitive equipment," Skulker replied, tossing the thermos haphazardly aside and producing a new weapon from his arm. "I'll be using _this_."

It was a nearly exact replica of the Fenton thermos. Danny stared at it for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. "Way to go for the climactic let-down!" Danny chuckled.

"Actually, it's a little more than it seems," Skulker said irritably. Leaning closer to Danny, he smiled sickly. "I worked out a few of the bugs. You see, now when a ghost is sucked into this baby, he won't be waking up."

Danny stopped laughing. "Oh." He grinned weakly. "Any chance of just shoving me in that cage with the rest of those little ghosts?" he asked hopefully.

"Not a chance." Skulker's thermos began to glow a dangerous green.

"What the heck is going on?" yelled Dash from across the room. Skulker groaned and pulled the thermos back.

"Shut up, human," he sneered. "Can't you see the ghosts are busy?"

"Ghosts?" Dash repeated.

"Skulker, shut up!" Danny hissed.

Skulker looked from Danny to Dash and then back to Danny. Then a light bulb seemed to go off above his head. "Well that's interesting," he chuckled suddenly. "You're scared of him finding out about who you are."

For a few seconds, Danny only gaped. "Wow, you're slow on the uptake," he said after awhile. "Walker got me on that one a long time ago."

Skulker rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself ghost boy," he said. "I don't spend every waking hour wondering about your hopes and fears. I'm just here to hunt you.

"But it seems the hunt is over now," he finished, shoving the thermos back into Danny's face. "See you in oblivion, _Danny Phantom_," Skulker sneered.

The green light flared and only two thoughts entered Danny's mind. He could turn into Danny Phantom and possibly live, but be discovered by Dash, or he could be killed and hung in Skulker's home. In a split second, he made the easy decision.

Just before the green blast fired, Danny went ghost and fired every ounce of ectoplasmic energy he could muster into the net holding him. Not a moment too soon, Danny flew out of the net and dove for the Fenton thermos where it laid forgotten on the floor. Snatching it up, he looped around and fired it at a surprised Skulker. With an angry cry, Skulker was dragged into the thermos.

Danny's feet touch back to the ground lightly. The young ghost's knuckles were strained against the thermos and his breath was uneven. With fearful eyes, Danny turned to look at Dash.

Dash was staring at Danny with a mix of shock and horror. "_You're_ the ghost kid?" he breathed.

"Uh," Danny replied awkwardly, reaching through the net with an intangible arm to pull Dash out. "It's a really long story." Dash looked scared out of his wits, but ready to listen, so Danny went on to explain anyway.

Once he finished, Dash had regained his confidence. He got a wicked look on his face. "So basically, you've been keeping this a secret from everyone, huh?" Danny nodded. "Then that means you have to do _anything_ I say, right?" Danny froze.

"I wouldn't want to slip up and randomly blurt out that Danny Fenton is Inviso-Bill," Dash insinuating, probably feeling very good about himself.

But Danny was prepared for this. His eyes turned green and he wore an equally wicked grin. "The name's Danny _Phantom_," Danny specified. "And I think you've got it backwards."

Dash yelped as Danny sprang forward and flew into his body. He felt his head go fuzzy a few seconds before everything went black.

In what felt like a few seconds later, Dash woke up disoriented. A bright flash went off in front of him, bringing Dash back to his senses. He was no longer in the kitchen. Instead, he was sitting in his closet surrounded by teddy bears and hugging one to his cheek. Danny stood in front of him grinning madly and waving a Polaroid photo.

Stunned, Dash dropped the teddy bear. "What did you do?" he gasped.

"Isn't it obvious?" Danny smirked, handing him the photo. "I can make you do whatever I want." A green glow formed over Danny's hand and he held it up threateningly. "And if not that…"

Dash shrunk away from the boy ghost. "All right!" he exclaimed. "I won't tell anyone!"

Satisfied, Danny extinguished the flame around his hand. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Good," he said simply. "I'll just go then." At the door, Danny turned around slyly. "Have fun at your party," he added, just before sinking through the floor.

Staring at the spot where Danny had disappeared, Dash sagged against the wall and looked at the photo in his trembling hands. What in the world had just happened?

OOOOOOOOO

Lookie here! I'm responding to reviews from ch. 3 gaspeth

**Mina-chan AMD**: Ahhh you've reviewed for like, every chapter! I love you

**CalicoKitty13**: Well that would be fun to write... >: lol Thanks for reading!

**Twilight Princess**: In reply to your Ch2 review: Yes, using words is usually helpful for writing stories. XD And I'm glad you liked the little tussle at the end of Ch. 3... Hopefully you'll like Ch. 4 as well.

**Zombie Thylacine**: Thank you very much! I'm just glad that people are reading it.

**TallieCat**: Well right now Danny and Vlad have this whole little balance going on right now. Like, if Danny is revealed then Vlad has no leverage on him, and if Vlad is revealed then Danny has no leverage on him. Its a very delicate balance and right now they're kinda at a stalemate. Also, if Danny is revealed then Vlad would have a harder time using him. Thanks for reading and here's another chapter

**Fuzzytoesocks**: I'll try not to stop... As long as the idea keeps coming I'll keep writing. I don't think the story will be very long though. Thanks for reading

**KatrinaKaiba**: Thanks!

**cakreut12**: XD I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. Thanks so much!

Thats it... Don't think I can do this for every chapter though o.o


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey now _this_ is more like my normal writing schedule. Really though, sorry it took so long for me to get this up. I blame school on top of the fact that I'm lazy on top of the fact that it just wouldn't flow out right. Personally I'm not all that happy with this, but who cares. Its just fanfiction that I'm writing for fun. Thank you sooooo much for all your reviews. They really motivated me. Now without further ado: Chapter 5 of Project Perils!

OOOOOOOOOOO

"You possessed him and shoved him in a closet!" Sam screamed through her webcam.

"It was the first thing that came to mind!" Danny replied miserably.

"Hey, but he won't mess with you anymore!" Tucker said. Danny groaned and slammed his head on his keyboard.

"Ow…"

"Don't beat yourself up about it Danny," said Sam. "It's not like you had any choice. I'm just saying you could have handled it better."

Danny peeled himself off the keyboard and glared at the webcam Tucker had fitted to his computer. "Maybe you two aren't getting the situation," he said. "_Dash_ knows what I am! Are you comprehending this?"

"Yes, Danny, we are," Tucker and Sam replied in deadpan unison.

Danny folded his head in his hands. "I can't go to school tomorrow," he mumbled.

"I'm sure Dash won't tell anyone," Sam repeated. "Not after what you did to scare him."

"Which I would _love_ for you to repeat in detail," Tucker added. "Dude! Why didn't you keep that photo? That's major blackmail material."

"Danny's kinda _already_ blackmailing him Tuck," Sam pointed out.

"You guys aren't helping!" Danny groaned.

Sam looked away from her computer screen suddenly. There was a faded voice in the background and a few seconds later Sam turned back. "Sorry Danny," she said. "I need to go. You better be at school tomorrow." Her window went black on Danny's screen.

"I gotta get off soon too, man," said Tucker. "Quick game of Doomed to cheer you up?"

"No thanks, Tuck," sighed Danny. "I think I'm just gonna go sleep."

"Alright man," Tucker said. "But remember, we have your back no matter what. See you school tomorrow Danny."

"Night," Danny replied gratefully, and hit the exit button on his screen. After shutting down his computer, Danny stripped off his clothes and flicked the light off before sliding into bed. It was a good hour before he was able to fall asleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Danny walked rigidly beside Tucker the next morning at school. "Is anyone looking at me weird? Like they're about to bolt?"

"Danny you're _fine_," insisted Sam from around Tucker. "Dash didn't tell anyone, trust me." She observed the bustle of the high school halls. Nerds being slammed in lockers, girls flirting, footballs flying, the random person bolting for their locker and knocking down half the hallway: the normal. "If Dash had told anyone, things here would be a little more chaotic."

"I hope you're right," Danny said miserably.

But this day _was_ like every other day. Just like any other day, a circle of jocks were waiting just past Danny's locker. Hanging to the back of the group was Dash.

Danny opened his locker with his head down, trying not to attract attention. He turned around with books in hand to come face to face with Kwan.

"Hey Fenton," Kwan jeered. "Ready to meet the inside of your locker again?" Behind him Dash looked very uncomfortable.

Danny backed away from Kwan and pressed against the lockers. "Not really," he answered. Kwan grinned, a sure sign that he didn't care.

Beside Danny, Tucker raised a hand to his mouth and went into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like the words "Teddy bears". Dash winced as if Tucker had slugged him.

"H-Hey man," Dash stammered, grabbing Kwan's shoulder. "Let's get Nathan today. I don't feel like shoving Fenton in his locker."

Kwan looked confused. "What? But Fenton's right here."

"I said I don't feel like it!" Dash growled. "Come on!" He grabbed Kwan's jacket and dragged him off in the direction of the bushy-haired nerd.

Danny relaxed and smiled at Tucker. "Smooth," he remarked. "And thanks."

"I try," shrugged Tucker with a chuckle.

"See," said Sam. "He didn't tell anyone. Now can you please stop freaking out and come to class already?"

"Yeah," Danny replied. His haphazard form of blackmail seemed to be working, but even so a little voice spoke in the back of his head that it wasn't quite right.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The day went by without Danny being revealed to the entire school and the afternoon found him sitting in the gym for the second day in a row listening to Vlad lecture on ghosts. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were sitting in the middle of the bleachers. Out of the corner of his eye Danny could see Dash giving him wary glances.

Up on the stage Vlad was coming to a high point in his speech. "...and now for a hands-on demonstration," he was saying. Danny stopped slouching, instantly alert. What was Vlad up to now?

"Due to the generosity of my good friend Jack Fenton," Vlad said to his eager audience. "I was able to borrow this, the Fenton thermos." He held out the thermos dramatically, glancing over the crowd until he nailed Danny with a smirk.

"Inside this thermos is a ghost," Vlad continued. "I will be letting him out for you, but do not worry. I have taken the up-most precaution to remove any possible weapons from the room."

"Vlad you shouldn't—" Danny shouted as Vlad twisted the top off the thermos. Instantly a blue mist floated from Danny's mouth. The blue swirl in the thermos thickened.

"This can't be good," Tucker moaned

A deep laughter floated from the thermos and the students were murmuring uneasily. "Don't panic or scream," calmed Vlad. "Everything is under control." Danny leaned forward in his seat, ready for anything, when…

"BEWARE!" shouted the Box Ghost as he appeared in all his glory. He floated over the bleachers, waving his arms menacingly. "I, the Box Ghost, am finally free of the cylindrical container, for no rounded object can hold me!"

If Danny was a cartoon character, he would have face faulted. The Box Ghost floated over the quivering crowd, clearly enjoying their fear. Despite how much they seemed to want to, everyone in the room obeyed Vlad and didn't scream or break into mass chaos.

Cackling, the Box Ghost swept down and hovered over Sam.

Sam blinked, not even jumping at the sudden invasion of her personal space. The Box Ghost looked clearly confused as to why this girl wasn't screaming like she was supposed to.

"Um," Sam said pointing at Danny. The Box Ghost followed the path of her finger and yelped.

"Uhhh, beware!" he shouted before fleeing back towards the stage. It wasn't the best escape route though because Vlad had donned a ghost gauntlet. He easily snatched the Box Ghost out of the air by the neck.

"As you can see, he's quite harmless," Vlad continued as if nothing had happened. "May I have a volunteer? Oh, Miss Grey, thank you." Valerie, who had been waving her hand wildly, scampered down the bleachers.

"It's great to see you again, Mr. Masters," Valerie said, eagerly shaking his outstretched hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," Vlad replied. Lowering his voice, he added, "I trust your ghost-hunting is going well."

"Yes, sir," Valerie replied proudly. "So, what're we gonna do now."

"Patience," Vlad chuckled, turning back to the student body.

"Miss Grey and I will now be demonstrating proper ghost handling procedures," he announced. "Miss Grey, if you'd be so kind, could you take this ectoplasmic net gun that you have no clue how to use and walk down to that end of the gym?"

"Of course," replied Valerie with a knowing smile, taking the familiar weapon and following his instructions.

As Valerie walked, Vlad held up his bulky gauntleted hand, Box Ghost and all. "These gloves," he announced, "are what allow me to hold this ghost. And never fear, by the time my research team gets a hold of them they will be substantially slimmed down."

Danny stood up, throwing caution to the wind. "Those are my dad's gloves!" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Vlad.

Vlad looked for a second at his gloved hands and then stared back up at Danny with a smirk in his eyes. "Actually, Daniel, I built these gloves with my own two hands. They are only loosely _based_ off of your father's invention, which I might mention he does not have a patent for."

A wave of chuckles flooded the room and Danny sat down with his fists clenched angrily. "Gee Danny," said Paulina haughtily from behind them. "Can't you just cut the guy some slack today? It's not like he's trying to hunt _you_ or anything." It was all Danny could do to keep back a dry laugh.

"Daniel, do I have your permission to start the demonstration?" Vlad asked sarcastically. A wave of full laughter reared its head across the gym and it was more than Danny could handle. Quivering, he stood up and stormed down the bleachers.

"You can't leave, Mr. Fenton!" Mr. Lancer called, racing towards Danny when the boy reached the door. Danny turned a green-eyed glare on his teacher, stopping him in his tracks, and shoved the door open. The second Danny turned the corner and was out of sight he phased through the floor.

Danny leaned against the pipes, breathing heavily with frustration. He shouldn't have let Vlad make him so angry like that! But he couldn't help it. Vlad was up to something and he couldn't just let it slide. Determined, Danny transformed into a ghost. Two could play the deception game and Danny was going to give Vlad as much trouble as he could with whatever he was trying to cook up.

Flying silently, Danny went invisible and phased into the gym behind the bleachers. Sam and Tucker were off beside the door arguing with Mr. Lancer and Valerie was being patted on the back by Vlad. Behind them the Box Ghost struggled against a glowing pink net; all the while yelling empty threats.

"Hey!" shouted Danny as he merged through the bleachers. The students around him screamed in surprise but he flew past them. Vlad looked up at Danny, his face not registering any surprise.

"Danny Phantom, right?" Vlad replied. "To whom do I owe this honor?" A twitch at the edge of Vlad's mouth nearly betrayed his serious tone.

"No one in particular," Danny replied darkly, largely ignoring the question. "Teaching about ghosts, huh? Perhaps I would be a better expert on the subject." Vlad shrugged.

"But perhaps not in human terms," he replied. "You may provide a wonderful example though. Care to help out?"

"Over my dead body," said Danny, not realizing the irony of the statement.

"That can be arranged!" shouted a red-clad girl. Danny looked over in surprise, and there was Valerie flying towards him on her hover board.

"Woah!" Danny yelled, barely dodging her as she tore past. He gathered an energy ball in his hand and flew to the middle of the gym to wait for her to circle around again.

Meanwhile Vlad was calling for the frenzied crowd to remain in their seats. "Use this as a learning experience!" he called. "Stay in your seats!"

Reluctantly the audience observed as Valerie circled around on her hover board and charged towards Danny again. With his eyes narrowed, Danny dodged the hover board again and snatched Valerie cleanly off it as it flew by. Without looking he blasted the board to the floor where it lay uselessly.

"Look," he hissed to Valerie, hovering closer to the floor. "I don't want to hurt you, but I might have to if you keep attacking me like this."

"Sh-Shut up ghost boy!" Valerie said through clenched teeth. "You won't change my mind about you and I can't let Mr. Masters down." Danny's grip tightened on her when Valerie mentioned Vlad and she cringed.

"Hey!" yelled a booming voice from the crowd. "Put her down, F-"

Danny dropped Valerie and cornered Dash so quickly that he didn't even have time to finish the name. He caught the football player easily at the neck and held a hand glowing of plasma over him.

"Shut. Up," Danny deadpanned. Dash stared up at Danny with a horrified expression, but Danny ignored the tugging on his conscience. This was necessary.

Then without warning a blue glow surrounded Danny and he felt himself being dragged into a very familiar thermos.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Well, well, Daniel," said the muted voice of Vlad. From inside the thermos Danny could make out the voice but it sounded muffled. "That was certainly unexpected. You scared that boy nearly out of his wits. You really are taking after me."

"Shut up," Danny muttered from within his tight confines. Now he knew what Ember had meant about his thermos.

"So, what prompted that unlikely violence?" Vlad asked, ignoring Danny's command. "Perhaps I misheard, but it sounded awfully like he was going to call you by a certain name."

"You misheard," replied Danny, closing the discussion. It was silent again for awhile and then Danny felt the thermos being picked up. He was carried a short distance and then he heard the muffled voice of his father.

"Oh, Vlad, you brought the thermos back!" he exclaimed. Danny would have smiled if he hadn't been so uncomfortable. His dad's voice was as loud as a normal speaking voice from inside the thermos.

"Actually, no, I-" Vlad interjected.

Apparently though Jack either didn't hear Vlad or didn't care, because Danny felt the thermos being pulled eagerly out of Vlad's hands. "Thanks V-man!" called Jack.

In the distance Danny could barely hear Vlad calling after Jack, but Jack must not have heard. Danny bounced a few seconds and then felt the thermos fly through the air and roll along a surface until it came to a stop against something. Danny figured that he was in the lab. Very faintly he could hear fading footsteps back on the stairs and then there was silence.

Sighing, Danny tried to shift and find a comfortable position. This really sucked.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Okay, so for a long time I never had the intention of finishing this. I'm not really that interested in Danny Phantom anymore... but I did have the whole story planned out and every time I got a review I felt pretty awful for not finishing it. So, I had some free time today and... here we are! One new chapter. I can't promise more, but I certainly hope I'll find time to finish it.

* * *

For what felt like hours Danny stayed cramped inside the Fenton Thermos. It gave him awhile to think about things, like Dash and what Vlad was planning. Hopefully he had messed up Vlad's plan a little, but now that Danny thought about it, Vlad hadn't sounded upset during their short conversation. Maybe it was because Vlad had discovered about Dash. Or maybe Vlad had set up the whole problem with Dash in the first place. In the end Danny was only confusing himself more.

There was a stomping of feet down the stairs that broke into Danny's thoughts and he heard he mother's far off voice muttering about the mess in the lab.

"Maddie!" he called frantically, his mind whirring through the possibilities of how to get her to let him out. "MADDIE!"

The muttering stopped and Danny called out again. He felt the thermos being picked up and then heard a distance voice saying "Is there a ghost in here?"

"I'm Danny Phantom," Danny called. He could hear the gasp clear as day. "Listen, you need to let me out. It's important."

"Danny Phantom? Why should I let you out, you ectoplasmic fiend?"

Danny racked his brain for an excuse, coming up dry until…

DING

A lightbulb went on in his head.

"Your son is in danger!" Danny yelled. A click sounded and a dizzying whirl of blue spat Danny out face to face with a glowing ectoplasmic ray.

"What do you know about my son," Maddie snarled dangerously.

"Don't shoot!" Danny yelped, throwing his hands up. "I just came to warn you!"

"Warn me about what?" Maddie asked, not lowering her gun a hair's breadth.

"About the new teacher at his school," Danny explained. "He's a dangerous ghost called Vlad Plasmius and he goes by the name of Vlad Masters when he's human."

Maddie lowered her gun slightly and frowned at Danny. "Don't be absurd," she chided. "Humans can't be ghosts."

"I didn't say you had to believe me," Danny answered. "I just came to warn you." Before his mother could reply he dove into the floor and looped back up to his room. He settled onto his bed just in time for his mother to slam the door open.

"Danny!" Maddie yelled, and Danny did his best to look confused and _not_ out of breath. "Are you alright?"

Danny quickly set down the magazine he had been "reading" when he realized that it was upside down. "Uh, yeah, why?"

His mother walked awkwardly into the room and rubbed her arm. "Oh, I don't know. I just… Has Vlad been acting oddly at school? Doing anything… out of the ordinary or underhanded."

Danny bit his lip. This would be the perfect time to explain everything, but what if everyone at school reacted the same way as Dash? "Mom, I—"

"Danny! Are you okay?!" Sam and Tucker flew through the doorway, nearly crashing into Danny's mother. "We thought—" Both of them noticed Maddie at the same time, and quickly shut their mouths.

Maddie's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why wouldn't he be okay?" she asked.

All three friends exchanged a look. The boys came up dry for ideas, but Sam blurted out, "He was turned down! Uh, for a date!"

Maddie looked confused for a moment, and then her mouth dropped open in a little 'o' shape. "Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart!"

"Y-Yeah," Danny answered, trying to look properly morose.

"What silly girl wouldn't want to go out with my little baby boy?" his mother continued to gush, wrapping him in a giant, crushing hug. Danny patted her awkwardly on the back, mouthing to Sam and Tucker over her shoulder, "HELP!"

They leapt into action. "Mrs. Fenton!" Sam exclaimed, pulling her away from Danny. "We know you care, but this is definitely friend territory, not parent territory."

"Yeah, let us deal with Danny," Tucker added in his best know-it-all voice, joining Sam in pushing Maddie out of the room. "You go back to protecting us from ghosts!"

Maddie seemed to remember why she had rushed upstairs the first place, but before she could say anything they had slammed the door in her face. "That was close," Tucker breathed once she was gone.

"I'll say," answered Danny. "But… no, nevermind."

"What?" Sam prodded.

"It was a stupid idea. I almost just told my mom everything."

Danny's friends exchanged a shocked look and then pounced. "Danny, why would you want to do that!?" Tucker exclaimed. "She'd never leave you alone. _No one_ would leave you alone."

"Just think of how Dash is reacting," Sam added, and then tacked on as an afterthought, "Of course, if you want to tell everyone we'll be 100 behind you on it."

"I can tell," Danny answered sardonically.

"So, what happened with Vlad?" Tucker asked, flopping down on Danny's bed.

"You saw it. He sucked me in the thermos and brought me here. I only got out because I told my mother I had to warn her… about… me." Danny blinked and thought back over his day. "Does this sort of thing happen to _anyone_ else?"

Tucker and Sam rolled their eyes. "No."

The next day at school was an awkward experience. Dash actually squeaked every time that he saw Danny, and eventually went home claiming to be ill. Vlad had another one of his ghost seminars scheduled and Danny was planning to stew darkly on the edge of the room during the presentation. Then something amazing happened: the Fentons burst into the gym.

"V-MAN!" Jack shouted, his voice deafening as it reverberated throughout the room. Vlad looked marginally dismayed to see him, and Danny knew he was only showing a fraction of what he felt on his face.

"Hello, Vlad," Maddie said coolly as she trailed her husband. "Just thought we'd pop in and see how your seminars are going. You \wouldn't mind a little constructive criticism, would you?"

"Ah, Maddie!" Vlad called, descending from the podium. "I would be honored to have someone of your expertise help me with the class."

"No, not helping," Maddie answered as she whipped out a Spectral Detector and began wandering the room. "We're merely here to observe." The detector beeped frantically as she approached Vlad, and Maddie's brow furrowed. "Odd…"

"Oh, not so much, considering I have a ghost on my person," Vlad answered, producing a new thermos from underneath his coat. "For demonstration purposes," he confided.

"Don't you think that's a little dangerous?" Maddie said in surprise.

"Not at all, Maddie! I have everything under control."

When Maddie nodded, she still looked a bit doubtful. "Well… we'll just be over here." She took Jack by the arm and they found seats in the front row of the bleachers. Immediately, Maddie turned in her seat and scanned the crowd for Danny. He tried to slouch, but her hawk-like eyes spotted him in a second. "Hi Danny!" she called cheerfully. "Isn't this exciting!"

Next to Danny, Sam snickered under her breath. He merely tensed, getting ready for whatever Vlad decided to throw at them today.

But nothing happened.

Vlad was the picture of integrity throughout his entire speech. When he released the ghost for observation, he incited Jack to come up and help him with the containment process, a task Jack was all too willing to accept. While Danny's dad bumbled around on stage, Vlad kept things under control. As much as Danny wanted to be mad at Vlad for humiliating his dad, Danny had to admit that Jack was doing a fair job of it by himself. Still, Danny could pick a bone with Vlad over his being a manipulative jerk.

"That was fun, wasn't it, Danny?" Maddie chirped when she caught Danny at the door. "I had my doubts at first, but it seems like Vlad is doing a knock-up job teaching you kids about ghosts." Vlad sauntered by, flashing Maddie a winning smile, and she added, "Though it pains me to admit it…"

"Hey son, want a ride home?" Jack appeared from the gym, staggering under all the literature and pamphlets he had procured from Vlad.

"No thanks," Danny said, cocking one eyebrow as a good half of the papers slid off the pile and on to the ground. "I'm gonna go hang out with my friends."

"Fair enough! Uh… Maddie! I seem to have dropped my papers…"

Danny hurried away with Tucker and Sam. He spotted Vlad on the way down the school steps, and he was wearing that infuriating smirk. Danny stopped and his resolve hardened. This was it; he was going to take down Vlad even if it meant ruining his life in the process.

"Hey, Vlad!" he called, running to catch up with the older man. Tucker and Sam dashed after him in confusion.

"Yes, Daniel?" Vlad answered guardedly as he turned around.

"My mom wanted to invite you over for pizza tonight."

"Your mother?" Vlad looked skeptical.

"Okay, my dad. But my mom was more impressed by your presentation than she let on. Maybe you can make amends for the whole wilderness thing?" Danny paused, knowing that what he was saying sounded completely unbelievable. He changed tactics. "It would sure make my life a lot easier. She never stops harping about how annoying you are."

Vlad's eyes widened. "She doesn't?"

"Oh, it's beyond annoying. Even if you're my arch nemesis, can you at least patch things up with her so we can have some domestic peace?"

Vlad studied Danny carefully while Same and Tucker tried to look in-the-know. "Fine. I will see you at dinner tonight, Daniel."

"Thank you!" Danny breathed. "See you tonight."

No turning back now.


End file.
